Chinese Meatballs with Udon Noodles

I didn’t grow up eating meatballs; they were very foreign to me. I was raised on Italian Bolognese, shepherds pie, and bacon sandwiches. Yes, bacon sandwiches are just as they sound, toasted bread, ketchup, and bacon. I simple, peasant style dish originating in the UK, and often called the “hangover cure”. But that isn’t on today’s menu. Today we’ll be having a much healthier meal, but just as satisfying. OK, back to the meatballs.

My idea of meatballs was a dense, dry rock of unseasoned meat, or if you want to get even classier, those artificially tasking Chef Boyardee meatballs swimming in a thin copper red sauce – a far cry from a basic tomato sauce. I can’t remember where or when this happened, but I eventually got over my fear. The variety of flavor combination you can get from one simple dish never leaves you bored. Italian, Swedish, Irish, Spanish… each culture has their own take and I urge you to try them all, and make some of your own. Now you don’t hear of a “Chinese meatball” very often, but why not? I incorporated all the same flavors you get in a stir fry and toss it with some Japanese udon noodles and you have a perfect fusion of flavors and textures.

Once you pop these in the oven and the aroma will envelope your kitchen. And on those stressful days where you want the comforting flavors on Chinese takeout, you can spare the menu and the cost and whip this up in under 30 mins and you can rest easy you fed yourself a well-balanced meal. A Rachel Ray recipe I found a few years ago inspired this dish. The original is delicious but I wanted to switch a few things up and make it easier to cook on a school night. The original recipe can be found at the following link. Chinese Spaghetti and Meatballs by Rachel Ray

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground pork

1 egg

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

3 scallions finely chopped

1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger root, grated

4 cloves garlic, grated

2 tablespoons Tamari (dark soy sauce)

2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp for the meatballs and 1 for the noodles, available on the Asian foods aisle of market

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. salt (you’ll have plenty of salt from the soy sauce)

1 pound udon noodles, you can find them on the Asian foods aisle or substitute with spaghetti

2 beef bullion cubes

2 tablespoons extra light olive oil

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, available on the Asian foods aisle of market

1 zucchini, julienned

1 yellow zucchini squash, julienned

1 scallion, finely sliced for garnish

3 tbsp. cilantro, roughly chopped for garnish

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.

Place a large pot of water with bullion cubes on to boil for the noodles. The bullion helps flavor the noodles without overpowering your palate with soy sauce. When it comes to a boil. Lower it to a simmer until you put the meatballs in the oven, then it’s time to bring it back up to a boil and cook your udon noodles, don’t worry, I’ll let you know when to come back to these.

Place the pork in a mixing bowl along with an egg, five-spice powder, scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, salt, pepper, and panko breadcrumbs.

Mix gently but thoroughly with your hands. If you use a spoon you will likely over mix the meat and you’ll end up with tough, dry meatballs.

Form 1 1/2-inch balls and place on a baking sheet.

Brush the meatball with extra light olive oil and roast for 15 mins.

Now that the meatballs are in, bring your water back up to a boil.

Follow the directions on the noodle package.

While the noodles and meatballs cook, julienne the squash and zucchini and set aside for garnish. Roughly chop a good handful of cilantro and thinly slice 2 scallions for your garnish.

When your noodles are ready, drain and return to pan.

Toss noodles in 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tsp. sesame seed oil.

When the meatballs are ready, remove from oven and assemble your dinner.

Begin by placing noodles at the bottom of your bowl. Add meatballs and slices of zucchini.